Hybrid melon variety 34-757 rz

ABSTRACT

The present invention relates to a  Cucumis melo  seed designated 34-757 RZ, which may exhibit a medium intense greyish green young fruit color, a medium fruit length, a circular fruit shape in longitudinal section, orange main flesh color, and intermediate resistance to powdery mildew  Podosphaera xanthii  (Px) race 1, race 2, race 5. The present invention also relates to a  Cucumis melo  plant produced by growing the 34-757 RZ seed. The invention further relates to methods for producing the melon cultivar, represented by melon variety 34-757 RZ.

INCORPORATION BY REFERENCE

All documents cited or referenced herein (“herein cited documents”), andall documents cited or referenced in herein cited documents, togetherwith any manufacturer's instructions, descriptions, productspecifications, and product sheets for any products mentioned herein orin any document incorporated herein by reference, are herebyincorporated herein by reference, and may be employed in the practice ofthe invention.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a new hybrid melon (Cucumis melo)variety 34-757 RZ which exhibits a combination of traits such as amedium intense greyish green young fruit color, a medium fruit length, acircular fruit shape in longitudinal section, orange main flesh color,and intermediate resistance to powdery mildew Podosphaera xanthii (Px)race 1, race 2, race 5.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Melon plants of the species Cucumis melo belong to the cucurbit family,scientifically called the Cucurbitaceae. Within this family it belongsto the genus Cucumis, which does not only harbor a variety of melontypes, but also the important food crop cucumber, Cucumis sativus, aswell as several other, less well-known species. It is an annual,herbaceous, flowering plant species which appears to have originated inAfrica or possibly Asia.

The species Cucumis melo has taxonomically been classified in variousways over the years, for example using a division into subspecies meloand agrestis with further classification into varieties, whereinbasically all cultivated melons belong to the ssp. melo.

Another classification divides C. melo into 7 taxonomic varieties, oneof which combines all wild types (C. melo var. agrestis), and the othersix include the cultivated melons. These six cultivated varieties arecantalupensis, inodorus, flexuosus, conomon, dudaim, and momordica. Thecultivated netted melon types muskmelon and cantaloupe, which includefor example Galia, Charentais, Ogen, and Eastern and Western shippers,in this classification belong to C. melo var. cantalupensis. The othermain group of sweet melons, such as Honeydews, and Cassaba types (e.g.Piel de Sapo, Jaune Canari) belong to C. melo var. inodorus, whichharbours non-climacteric and generally less or non-aromatic melon typeswith a better shelf life than cantalupensis.

Most non-sweet melons are grouped into the other taxonomic varieties,including for example snake melon, which is eaten immature as analternative for cucumber, and belongs to C. melo var. flexuosus.

Melon plants were domesticated early and have been cultivated forthousands of years in African and Asian countries. They are presentlycultivated worldwide for their delicious and highly nutritious fruits,and are a good source of vitamin C and potassium. Depending on the typethey can also provide useful amounts of other compounds such as vitaminA, B6, and folate. Melons are typically consumed fresh, in salads orprepared into desserts, appetizers, or drinks, for which they can becombined with a variety of other ingredients.

In 2011, the total acreage for cantaloupes in the United States wasapproximately 70,950 acres, with a total production of about 18.8million cwt, representing a value of just over $349.7 million. Honeydewswere harvested from 14,400 acres which resulted in a production of about3.2 million cwt, having a value of approximately $70.7 million (source:USDA/NASS 2012).

Melon production is most successful in a climate with a long warm sunnyseason that is relatively dry. Several pests and diseases can affectmelon production, including several viruses that are often transferredby insects, but also nematodes, bacterial and fungal diseases. Typicalproblems that might arise during melon production include Fusariumoxysporum f. sp. melonis (Fom) race 0, race 1, race 2, or race 1,2;downy mildew (Pseudoperonospora cubensis); powdery mildew (Podosphaeraxanthii or Golovinomyces cichoracearum); gummy stem blight (Didymellabryoniae); sudden wilt, including infection by Monosporascuscannonballus; Alternaria cucumerina; bacterial wilt (Erwiniatracheiphila); the viruses Melon Necrotic Spot Virus (MNSV), WatermelonMosaic Virus (WMV), Cucurbit Yellow Stunting Disorder Virus (CYSDV),Cucumber Vein Yellowing Virus (CVYV), Cucumber Mosaic Virus (CMV),Papaya Ringspot Virus (PRSV), Zucchini Yellow Mosaic Virus (ZYMV); andinsect attacks by cotton aphids (Aphis gossypii), pickleworm, whitefly(Bemisia tabaci), and leafminer.

Breeding for resistance against any of the diseases and pests that arementioned above, or any other biotic or abiotec stress factors, is animportant aspect in providing varieties for multiple growing systems andclimates. It is preferred to breed for a combination of resistances tocreate a variety that is most suitable in a certain situation orenvironment.

In order to create melon varieties that are satisfying the needs ofgrowers and/or consumers, many considerations have to be taken intoaccount. The goal in a breeding programme is to combine within a singlevariety or hybrid an improved combination of desirable traits from theparental germplasms. These traits may include higher yield, fieldperformance, resistance to diseases and insects, and tolerance todrought and heat. For melons it is apparent that fruit quality is of theutmost importance, which includes aspects such as external and internalcolor, content in soluble solids including sweetness, aroma, texture,juiciness, size of the seed cavity, firmness, and shelf life. Inaddition, characteristics related to optimum plant development are veryimportant for the grower, such as uniformity and speed of germination,growth rate, time to maturity, and plant uniformity.

Melon is a diploid plant species with twelve pairs of chromosomes.Cultivated melon plants can have different flower types, which can bepresent in various combinations. The situations that are most common aremonoecious plants, containing male and female flowers, andandromonoecious plants, which combine male and hermaphrodite flowers.Other sex expressions that are occurring in melon are gynoecious andhermaphrodite; in these cases only female or hermaphrodite flowers arepresent respectively. The sex expression of melon is extensivelystudied, and two genes involved in determining the type and combinationof flowers in a melon plant have been identified.

Melon plants in principle are self-pollinators but cross pollinationoccurs frequently, predictably also depending on the type of flowersthat is present. The presence of pollinating insects facilitates bothself- and cross-pollination. Like in most crops, commercial meloncultivars were initially open-pollinated, but nowadays many highyielding hybrid varieties are available. Melons are grown throughout theworld, in open field as well as protected cultivation, and are adaptedto many different climates and circumstances. As mentioned earlier, manydifferent types are available, and different regions have differentpreferences in type, size, flesh color, taste, etc. Since all melontypes belong to the same species, no crossing barriers exist andcombinations between types are frequently developed in breedingprogrammes, although some specific type characteristics might bedifficult to recombine into a new type.

The habit of a melon plant contributes to the overall performance andultimately to the development and yield of the melon fruits. A fruitcolor and type that is suited to and attractive for the intendedconsumers plays an important role in the success of a variety. CircularHarper type melons with orange flesh colour and a light creamy silverygrey fruit skin are attractive to consumers.

Growers rely on the presence of resistances to pests and diseases inanticipation of a good melon crop. In addition, the presence ofresistances requires lower pesticide inputs, which benefits both thecosts for the farmer and the environment.

Citation or identification of any document in this application is not anadmission that such document is available as prior art to the presentinvention.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

There exists a need for a hybrid melon variety which exhibits acombination of traits such as a medium intense greyish green young fruitcolor, a medium fruit length, a circular fruit shape in longitudinalsection, orange main flesh color, and intermediate resistance to powderymildew Podosphaera xanthii (Px) race 1, race 2, race 5.

The present invention fulfills this need by providing a new melon(Cucumis melo) variety, designated 34-757 RZ. Melon cultivar 34-757 RZexhibits a combination of traits such as a medium intense greyish greenyoung fruit color, a medium fruit length, a circular fruit shape inlongitudinal section, orange main flesh color, and intermediateresistance to powdery mildew Podosphaera xanthii (Px) race 1, race 2,race 5.

The present invention provides seeds of melon cultivar 34-757 RZ, whichhave been deposited with the National Collections of Industrial, Marineand Food Bacteria (NCIMB) in Bucksburn, Aberdeen AB21 9YA, Scotland, UKand have been assigned NCIMB Accession No. 42127.

In one embodiment, the invention provides a melon plant which mayexhibit a combination of traits including a medium intense greyish greenyoung fruit color, a medium fruit length, a circular fruit shape inlongitudinal section, orange main flesh color, and intermediateresistance to powdery mildew Podosphaera xanthii (Px) race 1, race 2,race 5, representative seed of which have been deposited under NCIMBAccession No. 42127.

In one embodiment, the invention provides a melon plant which mayexhibit a combination of traits including a medium intense greyish greenyoung fruit color, a medium fruit length, a circular fruit shape inlongitudinal section, orange main flesh color, and intermediateresistance to powdery mildew Podosphaera xanthii (Px) race 1, race 2,race 5, representative seed of which have been deposited under NCIMBAccession No. 42127, or melon variety or cultivar designated 34-757 RZ,as well as seed from such a plant, plant parts of such a plant (such asthose mentioned herein) and plants from such seed and/or progeny of sucha plant, advantageously progeny exhibiting such combination of suchtraits, each of which may be within the scope of the invention; suchcombination of traits may also include resistance to Fusarium oxysporumf. sp. melonis race 0, race 1, race 2.

In one embodiment, the invention provides a melon plant which mayexhibit a combination of traits including intermediate resistance topowdery mildew Podosphaera xanthii (Px) race 1, race 2, race 5, andresistance to Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. melonis race 0, race 1, race 2.

In one embodiment, the invention provides a melon plant designated34-757 RZ, representative seed of which have been deposited under NCIMBAccession No. 42127.

In an embodiment of the present invention, there also is provided partsof a melon plant of the invention, which may include parts of a melonplant exhibiting a combination of traits including a medium intensegreyish green young fruit color, a medium fruit length, a circular fruitshape in longitudinal section, orange main flesh color, and intermediateresistance to powdery mildew Podosphaera xanthii (Px) race 1, race 2,race 5, or parts of a melon plant having any of the aforementionedresistance(s) and a combination of traits including one or moremorphological or physiological characteristics tabulated herein,including parts of hybrid melon variety 34-757 RZ, wherein the plantparts are involved in sexual reproduction, which include, withoutlimitation, microspores, pollen, ovaries, ovules, embryo sacs or eggcells and/or wherein the plant parts are suitable for vegetativereproduction, which include, without limitation, cuttings, roots, stems,cells or protoplasts and/or wherein the plant parts are tissue cultureof regenerable cells in which the cells or protoplasts of the tissueculture are derived from a tissue such as, for example and withoutlimitation, leaves, pollen, embryos, cotyledon, hypocotyls, meristematiccells, roots, root tips, anthers, flowers, seeds or stems. The plants ofthe invention from which such parts may come include those whereinrepresentative seed of which has been deposited under NCIMB AccessionNo. 42127.

In another embodiment there is a plant grown from seeds, representativeseed of which having been deposited under NCIMB Accession No. 42127. Ina further embodiment there is a plant regenerated from theabove-described plant parts or regenerated from the above-describedtissue culture. Advantageously such a plant may have morphologicaland/or physiological characteristics of hybrid melon variety 34-757 RZand/or of a plant grown from seed, representative seed of which havingbeen deposited under NCIMB Accession No. NCIMB 42127—including withoutlimitation such plants having all of the morphological and physiologicalcharacteristics of hybrid melon variety 34-757 RZ and/or of a plantgrown from seed, representative seed of which having been depositedunder NCIMB Accession No. NCIMB 42127. Accordingly, in still a furtherembodiment, there is provided a melon plant having all of themorphological and physiological characteristics of hybrid melon variety34-757 RZ, representative seed of which having been deposited underNCIMB Accession No. 42127. Such a plant may be grown from the seeds,regenerated from the above-described plant parts, or regenerated fromthe above-described tissue culture. A melon plant having any of theaforementioned resistance(s), and one or more morphological orphysiological characteristics recited or tabulated herein, and a melonplant advantageously having all of the aforementioned resistances andthe characteristics recited and tabulated herein, are preferred. Partsof such plants—such as those plant parts above-mentioned—are encompassedby the invention.

In one embodiment, there is provided progeny of melon cultivar 34-757 RZproduced by sexual or vegetative reproduction, grown from seeds,regenerated from the above-described plant parts, or regenerated fromthe above-described tissue culture of the melon cultivar or a progenyplant thereof, representative seed of which having been deposited underNCIMB Accession No. 42127.

Progeny of the hybrid melon variety 34-757 RZ may be modified in one ormore other characteristics, in which the modification is a result of,for example and without limitation, mutagenesis or transformation with atransgene.

In still another embodiment, the present invention provides progeny ofmelon cultivar 34-757 RZ produced by sexual or vegetative reproduction,grown from seeds, regenerated from the above-described plant parts, orregenerated from the above-described tissue culture of the meloncultivar or a progeny plant thereof, in which the regenerated plantshows a combination of traits including a medium intense greyish greenyoung fruit color, a medium fruit length, a circular fruit shape inlongitudinal section, orange main flesh color, and intermediateresistance to powdery mildew Podosphaera xanthii (Px) race 1, race 2,race 5.

In another embodiment the invention relates to a method of producing aninbred melon plant derived from a plant of the invention of whichrepresentative seed has been deposited under NCIMB Accession No. NCIMB42127, which may comprise of the steps: a) preparing a progeny plantderived from hybrid melon variety 34-757 RZ by crossing a melon plantexhibiting a combination of traits including a medium intense greyishgreen young fruit color, a medium fruit length, a circular fruit shapein longitudinal section, orange main flesh color, and intermediateresistance to powdery mildew Podosphaera xanthii (Px) race 1, race 2,race 5, representative seed of which have been deposited under NCIMBAccession No. 42127 with a second melon plant; b) crossing the progenyplant with itself or a second melon plant to produce a seed of a progenyplant of a subsequent generation; c) growing a progeny plant of asubsequent generation from said seed and crossing the progeny plant of asubsequent generation with itself or a second melon plant; and d)repeating step b) or c) for at least 1 more generation to produce aninbred melon plant derived from the hybrid melon variety 34-757 RZ.

The invention even further relates to a method of producing melon fruitswhich may comprise: (a) cultivating the hybrid melon variety 34-757 RZ,representative seed of which having been deposited under NCIMB AccessionNo. NCIMB 42127, to produce fruits and; (b) harvesting melon fruits fromthe plant. The invention further comprehends the fruit itself,optionally in processed or packed form.

Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to not encompass withinthe invention any previously known product, process of making theproduct, or method of using the product such that Applicants reserve theright and hereby disclose a disclaimer of any previously known product,process, or method. It is further noted that the invention does notintend to encompass within the scope of the invention any product,process, or making of the product or method of using the product, whichdoes not meet the written description and enablement requirements of theUSPTO (35 U.S.C. §112, first paragraph) or the EPO (Article 83 of theEPC), such that Applicants reserve the right and hereby disclose adisclaimer of any previously described product, process of making theproduct, or method of using the product.

It is noted that in this disclosure and particularly in the claims,terms such as “comprises”, “comprised”, and “comprising” and the like(e.g., “includes”, “included”, “including”, “contains”, “contained”,“containing”, “has”, “had”, “having”, etc.) can have the meaningascribed to them in US patent law, i.e., they are open ended terms. Forexample, any method that “comprises,” “has” or “includes” one or moresteps is not limited to possessing only those one or more steps and alsocovers other unlisted steps. Similarly, any plant that “comprises,”“has” or “includes” one or more traits is not limited to possessing onlythose one or more traits and covers other unlisted traits. Similarly,the terms “consists essentially of” and “consisting essentially of” havethe meaning ascribed to them in US patent law, e.g., they allow forelements not explicitly recited, but exclude elements that are found inthe prior art or that affect a basic or novel characteristic of theinvention. See also MPEP §2111.03. In addition, the term “about” is usedto indicate that a value includes the standard deviation of error forthe device or method being employed to determine the value.

These and other embodiments are disclosed or are obvious from andencompassed by the following Detailed Description.

Deposit

The Deposit with NCIMB Ltd, Ferguson Building, Craibstone Estate,Bucksburn, Aberdeen AB21 9YA, UK, on Mar. 13, 2013, under depositaccession number NCIMB 42127 was made pursuant to the terms of theBudapest Treaty. Upon issuance of a patent, all restrictions upon thedeposit will be removed, and the deposit is intended to meet therequirements of 37 CFR §1.801-1.809. The deposit will be maintained inthe depository for a period of 30 years, or 5 years after the lastrequest, or for the effective life of the patent, whichever is longer,and will be replaced if necessary during that period.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The invention provides methods and compositions relating to plants,seeds and derivatives of a new hybrid melon variety herein referred toas hybrid melon variety 34-757 RZ. 34-757 RZ is a hybrid plant varietythat is uniform and distinct from other such hybrids, and may be stablyproduced after a cycle of reproduction.

There are numerous steps in the development of any novel plant withdesirable characteristics. Selection of traits is a very importantaspect of plant breeding. Once desirable traits are identified, theplants with those desirable traits are crossed in order to recombine thedesirable traits and through selection, varieties or parent lines aredeveloped. The goal is to combine in a single variety or hybrid animproved combination of desirable traits from the parent plant orplants. These important traits may include but are not limited to higheryield, field performance, fruit and agronomic quality such as fruitshape, color and length, resistance to diseases and insects, andtolerance to drought and heat.

Choice of breeding or selection methods depends on the mode of plantreproduction, the heritability of the trait(s) being improved, and thetype of cultivar used commercially (e.g., F1 hybrid cultivar, purelinecultivar, etc.). Popular selection methods commonly include but are notlimited to pedigree selection, modified pedigree selection, massselection, and recurrent selection.

The complexity of inheritance influences choice of the breeding method.Backcross breeding is used to transfer one or a few favorable genescoding for a highly heritable trait into a desirable cultivar. Thisapproach is used extensively for breeding disease-resistant cultivars.Various recurrent selection techniques are used to improvequantitatively inherited traits controlled by numerous genes. The use ofrecurrent selection in self-pollinating crops depends on the ease ofpollination, the frequency of successful hybrids from each pollination,and the number of hybrid offspring from each successful cross.

The development of commercial melon hybrids relates to the developmentof melon parental lines, the crossing of these lines, and the evaluationof the crosses. Pedigree breeding and recurrent selection breedingmethods are used to develop cultivars from breeding populations.Breeding programs combine desirable traits from two or more varieties orvarious broad-based sources into breeding pools from which lines aredeveloped by selfing and selection of desired phenotypes. The new linesare crossed with other lines and the hybrids from these crosses areevaluated to determine which have the desirable characteristics.

Pedigree breeding is used commonly for the improvement and developmentof inbred lines of self-pollinating or cross-pollinating crops. Twoparents which possess favorable, complementary traits are crossed toproduce an F1. An F2 population is produced by selfing one or severalF1s or by intercrossing two F1s (sib mating). Selection of the bestindividuals is usually begun in the F2 population; then, beginning inthe F3, generally the best individuals in the best families areselected. Replicated testing of families, or hybrid combinationsinvolving individuals of these families, often follows in the F4generation to improve the effectiveness of selection for traits with lowheritability. At an advanced stage of inbreeding suitable lines are usedas parents to produce F1 hybrids, which are subsequently tested forpotential release as new varieties or cultivars.

Mass and recurrent selections may be used to improve populations ofeither self- or cross-pollinating crops. A genetically variablepopulation of heterozygous individuals is either identified or createdby intercrossing several different parents. The best plants are selectedbased on individual superiority, outstanding progeny, or excellentcombining ability. The selected plants are intercrossed to produce a newpopulation in which further cycles of selection are continued.

Backcross breeding has been used to transfer genes for a simplyinherited, highly heritable trait into a desirable homozygous cultivaror line that is the recurrent parent. The source of the trait to betransferred is called the donor parent. The resulting plant is expectedto have the attributes of the recurrent parent (e.g. the cultivar orparent line) and the desirable trait transferred from the donor parent.After the initial cross, individuals possessing the phenotype of thedonor parent for the preferred trait are selected and repeatedly crossed(backcrossed) to the recurrent parent. The resulting plant is expectedto have the attributes of the recurrent parent (e.g. the cultivar orparent line) and the desirable trait transferred from the donor parent.

Other methods of breeding may also relate to the single-seed descentprocedure which refers to planting a segregating population, harvestinga sample of one seed per plant, and using the one-seed sample to plantthe next generation. When the population has been advanced from the F2to the desired level of inbreeding, the plants from which lines arederived will each trace to different F2 individuals. The number ofplants in a population declines each generation due to failure of someseeds to germinate or some plants to produce at least one seed. As aresult, not all of the F2 plants originally sampled in the populationwill be represented by a progeny when generation advance is completed.

In addition to phenotypic observations, the genotype of a plant may alsobe examined. There are many laboratory-based techniques available forthe analysis, comparison and characterization of plant genotype; thesetechniques include but are not limited to Isozyme Electrophoresis,Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphisms (RFLPs), Randomly AmplifiedPolymorphic DNAs (RAPDs), Arbitrarily Primed Polymerase Chain Reaction(AP-PCR), DNA Amplification Fingerprinting (DAF), Sequence CharacterizedAmplified Regions (SCARs), Amplified Fragment Length polymorphisms(AFLPs), Simple Sequence Repeats (SSRs—which are also referred to asMicrosatellites), and Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs)

Isozyme Electrophoresis and RFLPs have been widely used to determinegenetic composition. Shoemaker and Olsen, (Molecular Linkage Map ofSoybean (Glycine max) p 6.131-6.138 in S. J. O'Brien (ed) Genetic Maps:Locus Maps of Complex Genomes, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, ColdSpring Harbor, N.Y., (1993)) developed a molecular genetic linkage mapthat consisted of 25 linkage groups with about 365 RFLP, 11 RAPD, threeclassical markers and four isozyme loci. See also, Shoemaker, R. C.,RFLP Map of Soybean, p 299-309, in Phillips, R. L. and Vasil, I. K.,eds. DNA-Based Markers in Plants, Kluwer Academic Press, Dordrecht, theNetherlands (1994).

SSR technology is currently the most efficient and practical markertechnology; more marker loci may be routinely used and more alleles permarker locus may be found using SSRs in comparison to RFLPs. Forexample, Diwan and Cregan described a highly polymorphic microsatellitelocus in soybean with as many as 26 alleles. (Diwan, N. and Cregan, P.B., Theor. Appl. Genet. 95:22-225, 1997.) SNPs may also be used toidentify the unique genetic composition of the invention and progenyvarieties retaining that unique genetic composition. Various molecularmarker techniques may be used in combination to enhance overallresolution.

Molecular markers, which include markers identified through the use oftechniques such as Isozyme Electrophoresis, RFLPs, RAPDs, AP-PCR, DAF,SCARs, AFLPs, SSRs, and SNPs, may be used in plant breeding. One use ofmolecular markers is Quantitative Trait Loci (QTL) mapping. QTL mappingis the use of markers which are known to be closely linked to allelesthat have measurable effects on a quantitative trait. Selection in thebreeding process is based upon the accumulation of markers linked to thepositive effecting alleles and/or the elimination of the markers linkedto the negative effecting alleles from the plant's genome.

Molecular markers may also be used during the breeding process for theselection of qualitative traits. For example, markers closely linked toalleles or markers containing sequences within the actual alleles ofinterest may be used to select plants that contain the alleles ofinterest during a backcrossing breeding program. The markers may also beused to select toward the genome of the recurrent parent and against themarkers of the donor parent. This procedure attempts to minimize theamount of genome from the donor parent that remains in the selectedplants. It may also be used to reduce the number of crosses back to therecurrent parent needed in a backcrossing program. The use of molecularmarkers in the selection process is often called genetic marker enhancedselection or marker-assisted selection. Molecular markers may also beused to identify and exclude certain sources of germplasm as parentalvarieties or ancestors of a plant by providing a means of trackinggenetic profiles through crosses.

Mutation breeding is another method of introducing new traits into melonvarieties. Mutations that occur spontaneously or are artificiallyinduced may be useful sources of variability for a plant breeder. Thegoal of artificial mutagenesis is to increase the rate of mutation for adesired characteristic. Mutation rates may be increased by manydifferent means including temperature, long-term seed storage, tissueculture conditions, radiation (such as X-rays, Gamma rays, neutrons,Beta radiation, or ultraviolet radiation), chemical mutagens (such asbase analogs like 5-bromo-uracil), antibiotics, alkylating agents (suchas sulfur mustards, nitrogen mustards, epoxides, ethyleneamines,sulfates, sulfonates, sulfones, or lactones), azide, hydroxylamine,nitrous acid or acridines. Once a desired trait is observed throughmutagenesis the trait may then be incorporated into existing germplasmby traditional breeding techniques. Details of mutation breeding may befound in Principles of Cultivar Development by Fehr, MacmillanPublishing Company, 1993.

The production of doubled haploids may also be used for the developmentof homozygous lines in a breeding program. Doubled haploids are producedby the doubling of one set of chromosomes from a heterozygous plant toproduce a completely homozygous individual. For example, see Wan et al.,Theor. Appl. Genet., 77:889-892, 1989

The melon plant of the invention may be arrived at through crossing ofinbred lines or through selection of the disclosed desirablecharacteristics by any of the breeding and selection methods mentionedabove.

Hybrid melon variety 34-757 RZ is a cross between two uniform parentlines. The cross was made for the first time in 2009. The female lineME6008, a uniform line obtained after 9 generations of selfing andsuccessive selection originating from a cross between Capitol F1 andMelorange F1. The male line ME6 009, a uniform line from a threewaycross between Macigno, NS7455 and Castella F1, and subsequently selfedand selected for 6 generations. Breeding process was executed in Aramon,France. This process finally resulted in a melon hybrid that producesfruits with a nice netting and good internal quality. The 34-757 RZ is along shelflife harper variety with a light skin color. Netting is fine,uniform and secure. Seed cavity is small. Flesh is slightly aromatic nottoo firm. Flesh firmness is maintained rather well. Brix is between 11and 13 degrees in most conditions.

In one embodiment, a plant of the invention has all the morphologicaland physiological characteristics of melon variety 34-757 RZ. Thesecharacteristics of a melon plant of the invention, e.g. variety 34-757RZ, are summarized in Table 1, together with the characteristics of acomparable publicly available variety, Caribbean Gold, which is used ascomparison.

The information presented in Table 1 was determined in trial experimentsin accordance with official Dutch plant variety registration authorities(Naktuinbouw). The terminology used in the Table 1 is the officialterminology as used by the Dutch plant variety registration authorities(Naktuinbouw) as of the filing date, and is thus clear for a personskilled in the art.

The terminology and descriptors used by the Naktuinbouw, and accordinglyin Table 1, are in line with the descriptors of the “UPOV Guidelines forthe Conduct of Tests for Distinctness, Uniformity, and Stability”, orthe “Test Guidelines” for Cucumis melo. The “Test Guidelines” indicatereference varieties for all the descriptors or characteristics that areincluded in the list. Test guidelines for all crops may be accessedthrough the UPOV website, athttp://www.upov.int/test_guidelines/en/index.jsp. For melon, the mostrecent english Test Guideline TG/104/5, including reference varieties,was updated in 2006, and is accessible athttp://www.upov.int/edocs/tgdocs/en/tg104.pdf.

In addition the “Calibration book of Cucumis melo L.—Melon”(NAKTuinbouw, 2010) provides even more detailed reference information onmost of the characteristics that are included in Table 1.

As used herein resistances against Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. melonis(Fom) and powdery mildew Podosphaera xanthii (Px) are determined inaccordance with the protocol as described in the UPOV “Test Guidelines”TG/104/5 for Cucumis melo.

Embodiments of the invention advantageously have one or more, and mostadvantageously all, of these characteristics.

TABLE 1 Physiological and morphological characteristics of hybrid melonvariety 34-757 RZ and comparison variety Caribbean Gold. Varietydescription information for 34-757 RZ and comparison variety CaribbeanGold 34-757 RZ Caribbean Gold F1 CPVO Characteristics States ofexpression Note States of expression Note 12 Inflorescence: sexexpression monoecious 1 monoecious 1 (at full flowering) 13 Young fruit:hue of green colour greyish green 4 greyish green 4 of skin 14 Youngfruit: intensity of green medium 5 very light to light 2 colour of skin24 Fruit: length medium 5 long 7 28 Fruit: shape in longitudinal sectioncircular 4 medium elliptic (to 2 ovate) 29 Fruit: ground colour of skingrey 4 grey 4 36 Fruit: density of patches absent or very sparse 1absent or very sparse 1 43 Fruit: grooves absent 1 absent or very weakly1 expressed 48 Fruit: cork formation present 9 present 9 50 Fruit:pattern of cork formation netted only 5 netted only 5 54 Fruit: maincolour of flesh orange 5 orange 5 59 Seed: length medium 5 medium 5 62Seed: color cream yellow 2 cream yellow 2 68, 1 Resistance to Fusariumpresent 9 present 9 oxysporum f. sp. melonis: Race 0 68, 2 Resistance toFusarium present 9 present 9 oxysporum f. sp. melonis: Race 1 68, 3Resistance to Fusarium present 9 present 9 oxysporum f. sp. melonis:Race 2 69, 1 Resistance to Sphaerotheca intermediate resistant 2intermediate resistant 2 fuliginea (Podosphaera xanthii) (Powderymildew): race 1 69, 2 Resistance to Sphaerotheca intermediate resistant2 intermediate resistant 2 fuliginea (Podosphaera xanthii) (Powderymildew): race 2 69, 3 Resistance to Sphaerotheca intermediate resistant2 absent 1 fuliginea (Podosphaera xanthii) (Powdery mildew): race 5 70Resistance to Erysiphe not observed N absent 1 cichoracearum(Golovinomyces cichoracearum) (Powdery mildew) Race 1 71 Resistance tocolonization by Aphis not observed N present 9 gossypii

In an embodiment, the invention relates to melon plants that have allthe morphological and physiological characteristics of the invention andhave acquired said characteristics by introduction of the geneticinformation that is responsible for the characteristics from a suitablesource, either by conventional breeding, or genetic modification, inparticular by cisgenesis or transgenesis. Cisgenesis is geneticmodification of plants with a natural gene, coding for an (agricultural)trait, from the crop plant itself or from a sexually compatible donorplant. Transgenesis is genetic modification of a plant with a gene froma non-crossable species or a synthetic gene.

Just as useful traits that may be introduced into a hybrid bybackcrossing the trait into one or both parents, useful traits may beintroduced directly into the plant of the invention, being a plant ofhybrid melon variety 34-757 RZ, by genetic transformation techniques;and, such plants of hybrid melon variety 34-757 RZ that have additionalgenetic information introduced into the genome or that expressadditional traits by having the DNA coding therefore introduced into thegenome via transformation techniques, are within the ambit of theinvention, as well as uses of such plants, and the making of suchplants.

Genetic transformation may therefore be used to insert a selectedtransgene into the plant of the invention, being a plant of hybrid melonvariety 34-757 RZ or may, alternatively, be used for the preparation oftransgenes which may be introduced by backcrossing. Methods for thetransformation of plants, including melon, are well known to those ofskill in the art.

Vectors used for the transformation of melon cells are not limited solong as the vector may express an inserted DNA in the cells. Forexample, vectors which may comprise promoters for constitutive geneexpression in melon cells (e.g., cauliflower mosaic virus 35S promoter)and promoters inducible by exogenous stimuli may be used. Examples ofsuitable vectors include pBI binary vector. The “melon cell” into whichthe vector is to be introduced includes various forms of melon cells,such as cultured cell suspensions, protoplasts, leaf sections, andcallus. A vector may be introduced into melon cells by known methods,such as the polyethylene glycol method, polycation method,electroporation, Agrobacterium-mediated transfer, particle bombardmentand direct DNA uptake by protoplasts. To effect transformation byelectroporation, one may employ either friable tissues, such as asuspension culture of cells or embryogenic callus or alternatively onemay transform immature embryos or other organized tissue directly. Inthis technique, one would partially degrade the cell walls of the chosencells by exposing them to pectin-degrading enzymes (pectolyases) ormechanically wound tissues in a controlled manner.

A particularly efficient method for delivering transforming DNA segmentsto plant cells is microprojectile bombardment. In this method, particlesare coated with nucleic acids and delivered into cells by a propellingforce. Exemplary particles include those comprised of tungsten,platinum, and preferably, gold. For the bombardment, cells in suspensionare concentrated on filters or solid culture medium. Alternatively,immature embryos or other target cells may be arranged on solid culturemedium. The cells to be bombarded are positioned at an appropriatedistance below the macroprojectile stopping plate. An illustrativeembodiment of a method for delivering DNA into plant cells byacceleration is the Biolistics Particle Delivery System, which may beused to propel particles coated with DNA or cells through a screen, suchas a stainless steel or Nytex screen, onto a surface covered with targetmelon cells. The screen disperses the particles so that they are notdelivered to the recipient cells in large aggregates. It is believedthat a screen intervening between the projectile apparatus and the cellsto be bombarded reduces the size of projectiles aggregate and maycontribute to a higher frequency of transformation by reducing thedamage inflicted on the recipient cells by projectiles that are toolarge. Microprojectile bombardment techniques are widely applicable, andmay be used to transform virtually any plant species, including a plantof melon variety 34-757 RZ.

Agrobacterium-mediated transfer is another widely applicable system forintroducing gene loci into plant cells. An advantage of the technique isthat DNA may be introduced into whole plant tissues, thereby bypassingthe need for regeneration of an intact plant from a protoplast.Agrobacterium transformation vectors are capable of replication in E.coli as well as Agrobacterium, allowing for convenient manipulations.Moreover, advances in vectors for Agrobacterium-mediated gene transferhave improved the arrangement of genes and restriction sites in thevectors to facilitate the construction of vectors capable of expressingvarious polypeptide coding genes. The vectors have convenientmulti-linker regions flanked by a promoter and a polyadenylation sitefor direct expression of inserted polypeptide coding genes.Additionally, Agrobacterium containing both armed and disarmed Ti genesmay be used for transformation. In those plant strains whereAgrobacterium-mediated transformation is efficient, it is the method ofchoice because of the facile and defined nature of the gene locustransfer. The use of Agrobacterium-mediated plant integrating vectors tointroduce DNA into plant cells, including melon plant cells, is wellknown in the art (See, e.g., U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,250,560 and 5,563,055).

Transformation of plant protoplasts also may be achieved using methodsbased on calcium phosphate precipitation, polyethylene glycol treatment,electroporation, and combinations of these treatments.

A number of promoters have utility for plant gene expression for anygene of interest including but not limited to selectable markers,scoreable markers, genes for pest tolerance, disease resistance,nutritional enhancements and any other gene of agronomic interest.Examples of constitutive promoters useful for melon plant geneexpression include, but are not limited to, the cauliflower mosaic virus(CaMV) P-35S promoter, a tandemly duplicated version of the CaMV 35Spromoter, the enhanced 35S promoter (P-e35S), the nopaline synthasepromoter, the octopine synthase promoter, the figwort mosaic virus(P-FMV) promoter (see U.S. Pat. No. 5,378,619), an enhanced version ofthe FMV promoter (P-eFMV) where the promoter sequence of P-FMV isduplicated in tandem, the cauliflower mosaic virus 19S promoter, asugarcane bacilliform virus promoter, a commelina yellow mottle viruspromoter, the promoter for the thylakoid membrane proteins from melon(psaD, psaF, psaE, PC, FNR, atpC, atpD, cab, rbcS) (see U.S. Pat. No.7,161,061), the CAB-1 promoter from melon (see U.S. Pat. No. 7,663,027),the promoter from maize prolamin seed storage protein (see U.S. Pat. No.7,119,255), and other plant DNA virus promoters known to express inplant cells. A variety of plant gene promoters that are regulated inresponse to environmental, hormonal, chemical, and/or developmentalsignals may be used for expression of an operably linked gene in plantcells, including promoters regulated by (1) heat, (2) light (e.g., pearbcS-3A promoter, maize rbcS promoter, or chlorophyll a/b-bindingprotein promoter), (3) hormones, such as abscisic acid, (4) wounding(e.g., wunl, or (5) chemicals such as methyl jasmonate, salicylic acid,or Safener. It may also be advantageous to employ organ-specificpromoters.

Exemplary nucleic acids which may be introduced to the melon variety ofthis invention include, for example, DNA sequences or genes from anotherspecies, or even genes or sequences which originate from or are presentin melon species, but are incorporated into recipient cells by geneticengineering methods rather than classical reproduction or breedingtechniques. However, the term “exogenous” is also intended to refer togenes that are not normally present in the cell being transformed, orperhaps simply not present in the form, structure, etc., as found in thetransforming DNA segment or gene, or genes which are normally presentand that one desires to express in a manner that differs from thenatural expression pattern, e.g., to over-express. Thus, the term“exogenous” gene or DNA is intended to refer to any gene or DNA segmentthat is introduced into a recipient cell, regardless of whether asimilar gene may already be present in such a cell. The type of DNAincluded in the exogenous DNA may include DNA which is already presentin the plant cell, DNA from another plant, DNA from a differentorganism, or a DNA generated externally, such as a DNA sequencecontaining an antisense message of a gene, or a DNA sequence encoding asynthetic or modified version of a gene.

Many hundreds if not thousands of different genes are known and couldpotentially be introduced into a plant of melon variety 34-757 RZ.Non-limiting examples of particular genes and corresponding phenotypesone may choose to introduce into a melon plant include one or more genesfor insect tolerance, pest tolerance such as genes for fungal diseasecontrol, herbicide tolerance, and genes for quality improvements such asyield, nutritional enhancements, environmental or stress tolerances, orany desirable changes in plant physiology, growth, development,morphology or plant product(s).

Alternatively, the DNA coding sequences may affect these phenotypes byencoding a non-translatable RNA molecule that causes the targetedinhibition of expression of an endogenous gene, for example viaantisense- or cosuppression-mediated mechanisms. The RNA could also be acatalytic RNA molecule (i.e., a ribozyme) engineered to cleave a desiredendogenous mRNA product. Thus, any gene which produces a protein or mRNAwhich expresses a phenotype or morphology change of interest is usefulfor the practice of the present invention. (See also U.S. Pat. No.7,576,262, “Modified gene-silencing RNA and uses thereof.”)

U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,230,158, 7,122,720, 7,081,363, 6,734,341, 6,503,732,6,392,121, 6,087,560, 5,981,181, 5,977,060, 5,608,146, 5,516,667, eachof which, and all documents cited therein are hereby incorporated hereinby reference, consistent with the above INCORPORATION BY REFERENCEsection, are additionally cited as examples of U.S. patents that mayconcern transformed melon and/or methods of transforming melon or melonplant cells, and techniques from these US patents, as well as promoters,vectors, etc., may be employed in the practice of this invention tointroduce exogenous nucleic acid sequence(s) into a plant of melonvariety 34-757 RZ (or cells thereof), and exemplify some exogenousnucleic acid sequence(s) which may be introduced into a plant of melonvariety 34-757 RZ (or cells thereof) of the invention, as well astechniques, promoters, vectors etc., to thereby obtain further plants ofmelon variety 34-757 RZ, plant parts and cells, seeds, other propagationmaterial, harvestable parts of these plants, etc. of the invention, e.g.tissue culture, including a cell or protoplast, such as an embryo,meristem, cotyledon, pollen, leaf, anther, root, root tip, pistil,flower, seed or stalk.

The invention further relates to propagation material for producingplants of the invention. Such propagation material may comprise interalia seeds of the claimed plant and parts of the plant that are involvedin sexual reproduction. Such parts are for example selected from thegroup consisting of seeds, microspores, pollen, ovaries, ovules, embryosacs and egg cells. In addition, the invention relates to propagationmaterial which may comprise parts of the plant that are suitable forvegetative reproduction, for example cuttings, roots, stems, cells,protoplasts.

According to a further aspect thereof the propagation material of theinvention may comprise a tissue culture of the claimed plant. The tissueculture may comprise regenerable cells. Such tissue culture may bederived from leaves, pollen, embryos, cotyledon, hypocotyls,meristematic cells, roots, root tips, anthers, flowers, seeds and stems.Tissue culture methodologies relating to melon plants are well known inthe art (P. P. Chee, HortScience 26(7): 908-910 (1991); J. F. Reynolds.14. In vitro culture of vegetable crops. Chapter 12.1 Melon. In: I. K.Vasil: Plant Cell and Tissue Culture: 349-351 (1994)).

Also, the invention comprehends methods for producing a seed of a“34-757 RZ”-derived melon plant which may comprise (a) crossing a plantof melon variety 34-757 RZ, representative seed of which having beendeposited under NCIMB Accession No. NCIMB 42127, with a second melonplant, and (b) whereby seed of a “34-757 RZ”-derived melon plant form(e.g., by allowing the plant from the cross to grow to produce seed).Such a method may further comprise (c) crossing a plant grown from“34-757 RZ”-derived melon seed with itself or with a second melon plantto yield additional “34-757 RZ”-derived melon seed, (d) growing theadditional “34-757 RZ”-derived melon seed of step (c) to yieldadditional “34-757 RZ”-derived melon plants, and (e) repeating thecrossing and growing of steps (c) and (d) for an additional 3-10generations to further generate “34-757 RZ”-derived melon plants.

The invention additionally provides a method of introducing a desiredtrait into a plant of hybrid melon variety 34-757 RZ by reverse breeding(See generally allowed U.S. application Ser. No. 10/487,468, publishedas 2006-0179498 A1), which may comprise the following steps: (a)allowing the hybrid melon plant to produce haploid cells, whilesuppressing recombination, (b) growing haploid cells into diploidplants, (c) selecting those homozygous plants which together constitutethe hybrid variety of the invention as parent plants for the saidhybrid, (d) crossing one of the said parent plants with a plant havingthe desired trait, (e) crossing the selected F1 progeny with said parentplant, to produce backcross progeny, (f) selecting backcross progenywhich may comprise the desired trait and the physiological andmorphological characteristic of the parent plant; and, optionally, (g)repeating steps (e) and (f) one or more times in succession to produceselected fourth or higher backcross progeny that comprise the desiredtrait and all of the physiological and morphological characteristics ofsaid parent plant, (h) crossing the backcrossed parent plant having theadded desired trait with the other parent plant obtained after reversebreeding to obtain a plant which may comprise the desired trait and allof the physiological and morphological characteristics of a plant ofmelon variety 34-757 RZ.

Backcrossing one of the parents of a hybrid may also be used to improvean inbred plant. Backcrossing transfers a specific desirable trait fromone inbred or non-inbred source to an inbred that lacks that trait. Thismay be accomplished, for example, by first crossing a superior inbred(A) (recurrent parent) to a donor inbred (non-recurrent parent), whichcarries the appropriate locus or loci for the trait in question. Theprogeny of this cross are then mated back to the superior recurrentparent (A) followed by selection in the resultant progeny for thedesired trait to be transferred from the non-recurrent parent. Afterfive or more backcross generations with selection for the desired trait,the progeny are heterozygous for loci controlling the characteristicbeing transferred, but are like the superior parent for most or almostall other loci. The last backcross generation would be selfed to givepure breeding progeny for the trait being transferred.

The invention further involves a method of determining the genotype of aplant of melon variety 34-757 RZ, representative seed of which has beendeposited under NCIMB Accession No. NCIMB 42127, or a first generationprogeny thereof, which may comprise obtaining a sample of nucleic acidsfrom said plant and comparing said nucleic acids to a sample of nucleicacids obtained from a reference plant, and detecting a plurality ofpolymorphisms between the two nucleic acid samples. This method mayadditionally comprise the step of storing the results of detecting theplurality of polymorphisms on a computer readable medium. The pluralityof polymorphisms are indicative of and/or give rise to the expression ofone or more, or all, of the morphological and physiologicalcharacteristics of melon variety 34-757 RZ.

The polymorphisms of this invention may be provided in a variety ofmediums to facilitate use, e.g. a database or computer readable medium,which may also contain descriptive annotations in a form that allows askilled artisan to examine or query the polymorphisms and obtain usefulinformation.

As used herein “database” refers to any representation of retrievablecollected data including computer files such as text files, databasefiles, spreadsheet files and image files, printed tabulations andgraphical representations and combinations of digital and image datacollections. In a preferred aspect of the invention, “database” refersto a memory system that may store computer searchable information.

As used herein, “computer readable media” refers to any medium that maybe read and accessed directly by a computer. Such media include, but arenot limited to: magnetic storage media, such as floppy discs, hard disc,storage medium and magnetic tape; optical storage media such as CD-ROM;electrical storage media such as RAM, DRAM, SRAM, SDRAM, ROM; and PROMs(EPROM, EEPROM, Flash EPROM), and hybrids of these categories such asmagnetic/optical storage media. A skilled artisan may readily appreciatehow any of the presently known computer readable mediums may be used tocreate a manufacture which may comprise computer readable medium havingrecorded thereon a polymorphism of the present invention.

As used herein, “recorded” refers to the result of a process for storinginformation in a retrievable database or computer readable medium. Forinstance, a skilled artisan may readily adopt any of the presently knownmethods for recording information on computer readable medium togenerate media which may comprise the polymorphisms of the presentinvention. A variety of data storage structures are available to askilled artisan for creating a computer readable medium where the choiceof the data storage structure will generally be based on the meanschosen to access the stored information. In addition, a variety of dataprocessor programs and formats may be used to store the polymorphsims ofthe present invention on computer readable medium.

The present invention further provides systems, particularlycomputer-based systems, which contain the polymorphisms describedherein. Such systems are designed to identify the polymorphisms of thisinvention. As used herein, “a computer-based system” refers to thehardware, software and memory used to analyze the polymorphisms. Askilled artisan may readily appreciate that any one of the currentlyavailable computer-based system are suitable for use in the presentinvention.

The invention is further described by the following numbered paragraphs:

1. A melon plant exhibiting a combination of traits comprising a mediumintense greyish green young fruit color, a medium fruit length, acircular fruit shape in longitudinal section, orange main flesh color,and intermediate resistance to powdery mildew Podosphaera xanthii (Px)race 1, race 2, race 5, representative seed of which having beendeposited under NCIMB Accession No. 42127.

2. The melon plant of paragraph 1 wherein said combination of traitsfurther comprises resistance to Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. melonis race0, race 1, race 2.

3. A melon plant designated 34-757 RZ, representative seed of whichhaving been deposited under NCIMB Accession No. 42127.

4. A seed of the plant of paragraph 1 or paragraph 2.

5. Parts of the plant of paragraph 1 or paragraph 2 or paragraph 3,wherein said parts of the plant are suitable for sexual reproduction.

6. Parts of the plant of paragraph 5, said parts selected from the groupconsisting of microspores, pollen, ovaries, ovules, embryo sacs and eggcells.

7. Parts of the plant of paragraph 1 or paragraph 2 or paragraph 3,wherein said parts of the plant are suitable for vegetativereproduction.

8. Parts of paragraph 7, said parts selected from the group consistingof cuttings, roots, stems, cells and protoplasts.

9. A tissue culture of regenerable cells from the melon plant ofparagraph 1 or paragraph 2 or paragraph 3.

10. The tissue culture of paragraph 9, wherein said cells or protoplastsof the tissue culture are derived from a tissue selected from the groupconsisting of leaves, pollen, embryos, cotyledon, hypocotyls,meristematic cells, roots, root tips, anthers, flowers, seeds and stems.

11. A progeny of a melon plant of paragraph 1 or paragraph 2 orparagraph 3.

12. The progeny of paragraph 11, wherein said progeny is produced bysexual or vegetative reproduction of said melon plant, and wherein saidprogeny exhibits a combination of traits comprising a medium intensegreyish green young fruit color, a medium fruit length, a circular fruitshape in longitudinal section, orange main flesh color, and intermediateresistance to powdery mildew Podosphaera xanthii (Px) race 1, race 2,race 5.

13. A progeny of a melon plant of paragraph 3, having all themorphological and physiological characteristics of the melon plant ofparagraph 3, representative seed of which having been deposited underNCIMB Accession No. 42127 wherein the morphological and physiologicalcharacteristics are as found in melon variety 34-757 RZ, representativeseed of which having been deposited under NCIMB Accession No. 42127.

14. A progeny of a melon plant of paragraph 1 or paragraph 2 orparagraph 3, representative seed of which having been deposited underNCIMB Accession 42127, which progeny is modified in one or more othercharacteristics.

15. The progeny of paragraph 14, wherein the modification is effected bymutagenesis.

16. The progeny of paragraph 14, wherein the modification is effected bytransformation with a transgene.

17. A method of producing an inbred melon plant derived from hybridmelon variety 34-757 RZ, comprising the steps:

a) preparing a progeny plant derived from hybrid melon variety 34-757 RZby crossing the plant of paragraph 1 or paragraph 2 with a second melonplant;

b) crossing the progeny plant with itself or a second melon plant toproduce a seed of a progeny plant of a subsequent generation;

c) growing a progeny plant of a subsequent generation from said seed andcrossing the progeny plant of a subsequent generation with itself or asecond melon plant; and

d) repeating step b) or c) for at least 1 more generation to produce aninbred melon plant derived from the hybrid melon variety 34-757 RZ.

18. An inbred melon plant produced by the method of paragraph 17.

19. A method of producing a melon fruit comprising: (a) obtaining aplant according to paragraph 1 or paragraph 2, wherein the plant hasbeen cultivated to develop fruit; and (b) collecting a melon fruit fromthe plant.

20. A fruit produced by the method of paragraph 19.

21. A method for producing a seed of a 34-757 RZ-derived melon plantcomprising (a) crossing a plant of melon variety 34-757 RZ,representative seed of which having been deposited under NCIMB AccessionNo. NCIMB 42127, with a second melon plant, and (b) whereby seed of a34-757 RZ-derived melon plant forms.

22. The method of paragraph 21 further comprising (c) crossing a plantgrown from 34-757 RZ-derived melon seed with itself or with a secondmelon plant to yield additional 34-757 RZ-derived melon seed, (d)growing the additional 34-757 RZ-derived melon seed of step (c) to yieldadditional 34-757 RZ-derived melon plants, and (e) repeating thecrossing and growing of steps (c) and (d) for an additional 3-10generations to generate further 34-757 RZ-derived melon plants.

23. The method of paragraph 21 or paragraph 22 wherein the 34-757RZ-derived melon plant exhibits a combination of traits comprising amedium intense greyish green young fruit color, a medium fruit length, acircular fruit shape in longitudinal section, orange main flesh color,and intermediate resistance to powdery mildew Podosphaera xanthii (Px)race 1, race 2, race 5.

24. Seed produced by the method of paragraph 21 or paragraph 22 orparagraph 23.

25. A method of introducing a desired trait into a parent plant ofhybrid melon variety 34-757 RZ comprising: (a) crossing a parent plantof hybrid melon variety 34-757 RZ, representative seed of which havingbeen deposited under NCIMB Accession No. NCIMB 42127 with a second melonplant that comprises the desired trait to produce F1 progeny; (b)selecting an F1 progeny that comprises the desired trait; (c) crossingthe selected F1 progeny with said parent plant of melon variety 34-757RZ, to produce backcross progeny and (d) selecting backcross progenycomprising the desired trait and the physiological and morphologicalcharacteristics of said parent plant of melon variety 34-757 RZ, whengrown in the same environmental conditions.

26. The method of paragraph 25 further comprising: (e) repeating steps(c) and (d) one or more times in succession to produce selected fourthor higher backcross progeny that comprise the desired trait and all ofthe physiological and morphological characteristics of said parent plantof melon variety 34-757 RZ, when grown in the same environmentalconditions.

27. The method of paragraph 25 wherein the parent plant is obtained byreverse breeding.

28. A melon plant produced by the method of paragraph 25 or paragraph26.

29. A method of determining the genotype of a plant of melon variety34-757 RZ, representative seed of which has been deposited under NCIMBAccession No. NCIMB 42127, or a first generation progeny thereof,comprising obtaining a sample of nucleic acids from said plant andcomparing said nucleic acids to a sample of nucleic acids obtained froma reference plant, and detecting a plurality of polymorphisms betweenthe two nucleic acid samples, wherein the plurality of polymorphisms areindicative of melon variety 34-757 RZ and/or give rise to the expressionof any one or more, or all, of the morphological and physiologicalcharacteristics of melon variety 34-757 RZ of paragraph 1.

30. The method of paragraph 29 additionally comprising the step ofstoring the results of detecting the plurality of polymorphisms on acomputer readable medium, or transmitting the results of detecting theplurality of polymorphisms.

31. The computer readable medium of paragraph 30.

Having thus described in detail preferred embodiments of the presentinvention, it is to be understood that the invention is not to belimited to particular details set forth in the above description as manyapparent variations thereof are possible without departing from thespirit or scope of the present invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A melon plant exhibiting a combination of traitscomprising a medium intense greyish green young fruit color, a mediumfruit length, a circular fruit shape in longitudinal section, orangemain flesh color, and intermediate resistance to powdery mildewPodosphaera xanthii (Px) race 1, race 2, race 5, representative seed ofwhich having been deposited under NCIMB Accession No.
 42127. 2. Themelon plant of claim 1 wherein said combination of traits furthercomprises resistance to Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. melonis race 0, race1, race
 2. 3. A melon plant designated 34-757 RZ, representative seed ofwhich having been deposited under NCIMB Accession No.
 42127. 4. A seedof the plant of claim
 1. 5. Parts of the plant of claim 1, wherein saidparts of the plant are suitable for sexual reproduction.
 6. Parts of theplant as claimed in claim 5, said parts selected from the groupconsisting of microspores, pollen, ovaries, ovules, embryo sacs and eggcells.
 7. Parts of the plant of claim 1, wherein said parts of the plantare suitable for vegetative reproduction.
 8. Parts as claimed in claim7, said parts selected from the group consisting of cuttings, roots,stems, cells and protoplasts.
 9. A tissue culture of regenerable cellsfrom the melon plant of claim
 1. 10. The tissue culture as claimed inclaim 9, wherein said cells or protoplasts of the tissue culture arederived from a tissue selected from the group consisting of leaves,pollen, embryos, cotyledon, hypocotyls, meristematic cells, roots, roottips, anthers, flowers, seeds and stems.
 11. A progeny of a melon plantof claim
 1. 12. The progeny as claimed in claim 11, wherein said progenyis produced by sexual or vegetative reproduction of said melon plant,and wherein said progeny exhibits a combination of traits comprising amedium intense greyish green young fruit color, a medium fruit length, acircular fruit shape in longitudinal section, orange main flesh color,and intermediate resistance to powdery mildew Podosphaera xanthii (Px)race 1, race 2, race
 5. 13. A progeny of a melon plant of claim 3,having all the morphological and physiological characteristics of themelon plant of claim 3, representative seed of which having beendeposited under NCIMB Accession No. 42127 wherein the morphological andphysiological characteristics are as found in melon variety 34-757 RZ,representative seed of which having been deposited under NCIMB AccessionNo.
 42127. 14. A progeny of a melon plant of claim 1, representativeseed of which having been deposited under NCIMB Accession 42127, whichprogeny is modified in one or more other characteristics.
 15. Theprogeny as claimed in claim 14, wherein the modification is effected bymutagenesis.
 16. The progeny as claimed in claim 14, wherein themodification is effected by transformation with a transgene.
 17. Amethod of producing an inbred melon plant derived from hybrid melonvariety 34-757 RZ, comprising the steps: a) preparing a progeny plantderived from hybrid melon variety 34-757 RZ by crossing the plant ofclaim 1 with a second melon plant; b) crossing the progeny plant withitself or a second melon plant to produce a seed of a progeny plant of asubsequent generation; c) growing a progeny plant of a subsequentgeneration from said seed and crossing the progeny plant of a subsequentgeneration with itself or a second melon plant; and d) repeating step b)or c) for at least 1 more generation to produce an inbred melon plantderived from the hybrid melon variety 34-757 RZ.
 18. An inbred melonplant produced by the method of claim
 17. 19. A method of producing amelon fruit comprising: (a) obtaining a plant according to claim 1,wherein the plant has been cultivated to develop fruit; and (b)collecting a melon fruit from the plant.
 20. A fruit produced by themethod of claim
 19. 21. A method for producing a seed of a 34-757RZ-derived melon plant comprising (a) crossing a plant of melon variety34-757 RZ, representative seed of which having been deposited underNCIMB Accession No. NCIMB 42127, with a second melon plant, and (b)whereby seed of a 34-757 RZ-derived melon plant forms.
 22. The method ofclaim 21 further comprising (c) crossing a plant grown from 34-757RZ-derived melon seed with itself or with a second melon plant to yieldadditional 34-757 RZ-derived melon seed, (d) growing the additional34-757 RZ-derived melon seed of step (c) to yield additional 34-757RZ-derived melon plants, and (e) repeating the crossing and growing ofsteps (c) and (d) for an additional 3-10 generations to generate further34-757 RZ-derived melon plants.
 23. The method of claim 21 wherein a34-757 RZ-derived melon plant exhibits a combination of traitscomprising a medium intense greyish green young fruit color, a mediumfruit length, a circular fruit shape in longitudinal section, orangemain flesh color, and intermediate resistance to powdery mildewPodosphaera xanthii (Px) race 1, race 2, race
 5. 24. Seed produced bythe method of claim
 21. 25. A method of introducing a desired trait intoa parent plant of hybrid melon variety 34-757 RZ comprising: (a)crossing a parent plant of hybrid melon variety 34-757 RZ,representative seed of which having been deposited under NCIMB AccessionNo. NCIMB 42127 with a second melon plant that comprises the desiredtrait to produce F1 progeny; (b) selecting an F1 progeny that comprisesthe desired trait; (c) crossing the selected F1 progeny with said parentplant of melon variety 34-757 RZ, to produce backcross progeny and (d)selecting backcross progeny comprising the desired trait and thephysiological and morphological characteristics of said parent plant ofmelon variety 34-757 RZ, when grown in the same environmentalconditions.
 26. The method of claim 25 further comprising: (e) repeatingsteps (c) and (d) one or more times in succession to produce selectedfourth or higher backcross progeny that comprise the desired trait andall of the physiological and morphological characteristics of saidparent plant of melon variety 34-757 RZ, when grown in the sameenvironmental conditions.
 27. The method of claim 25 wherein the parentplant is obtained by reverse breeding.
 28. A melon plant produced by themethod of claim
 25. 29. A method of determining the genotype of a plantof melon variety 34-757 RZ, representative seed of which has beendeposited under NCIMB Accession No. NCIMB 42127, or a first generationprogeny thereof, comprising obtaining a sample of nucleic acids fromsaid plant and comparing said nucleic acids to a sample of nucleic acidsobtained from a reference plant, and detecting a plurality ofpolymorphisms between the two nucleic acid samples, wherein theplurality of polymorphisms are indicative of melon variety 34-757 RZand/or give rise to the expression of any one or more, or all, of themorphological and physiological characteristics of melon variety 34-757RZ as claimed in claim
 1. 30. The method of claim 29 additionallycomprising the step of storing the results of detecting the plurality ofpolymorphisms on a computer readable medium, or transmitting the resultsof detecting the plurality of polymorphisms.
 31. The computer readablemedium of claim 30.